Can you hear me? Oh
please, for once listen to
me.
It was mother earth,
speaking to me.
Said she, with a feeble
smile, on her pale face,
Your brethren from the
human race,
Are killing the babies I
nurtured with care,
My innocent children they
have not spared.
The twinkling stars, once
so bright,
Now a curtain of soot
drawn over them, right?
The Sun that once shone
in the morning sky,
Now seething with anger,
has set its temperature
high.
They all blame the Sun,
my eldest one,
For being harsh and cruel
on them.
Ever wondered what they
have done,
To its siblings, the rivers
and the trees?
So many of whom they
have wiped clear,
Without understanding
my pain and fears.
Now they cry hoarse,
When the rivers change
their course.
When in my defense, I
twist and turn a little,
I hear them groan and
with fear, rattle.
I can be worse, but still
donʼt curse,
As I am a mother to them
too, you see.
A mother only knows how
to nurture,
And pray for the children’s
future.
-Sonia Sethi